


Jade and Luke: Teacher and Student, Sinner and Savior

by DimensionSlip



Category: Tales of the Abyss, Tales of the Rays
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Meta, Meta Essay, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-16 11:03:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16952796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DimensionSlip/pseuds/DimensionSlip
Summary: A look into how Jade and Luke support each other's growth and character development. This will touch on mainly on Luke and Jade's teacher and student dynamic, and Jade finding salvation through Luke. In closing, this will explore how they act inTales of the Raysand at the end ofTales of the Abyssthanks to the said developments.





	1. Being Scolded Isn't Always Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Today, I would like to talk about Luke and Jade's relationship in _Tales of the Abyss_ , and why I love their dynamic so much. Not necessarily in a romantic context, but with regard to how these two support each other's growth and character development. This was, in part, inspired by Jade and Luke's entry in the _3DS Tales of the Abyss Official Complete Guide_ under "Teacher and Student", and fueled by Jade's second skit in _Tales of the Rays_ , titled "The Footfalls of Sin".
> 
>   * Being Scolded Isn't Always Bad (or, How Jade Became Another ~~Father~~ Mentor Figure for Luke)
>   * Salvation Through Action (or, How Luke Freed Jade from the Shackles of His Past)
>   * Applying the Results: Tales of the Rays
>   * Applying the Results: Endgame
> 

> 
> As usual, I will reinforce points with official material (some of which I translated myself) whenever possible. The first part is currently up, and the next three will be up sometime within this week or the next. Feedback is very much welcome!

#### Being Scolded Isn't Always Bad  
(or, How Jade Became Another ~~Father~~ Mentor Figure for Luke)

Let me start this off with some translated material from the complete guide, aka what official material has to say about it.

> **Another Teacher**
> 
> For Luke, Jade was always a self-important, nothing but sarcastic and irritating presence. However, when Luke pushed himself too hard while stopping the collapse of St. Binah and Jade scolded him, his perception changed. It was because Elder McGovern taught Luke it was Jade's way of showing that he cared, and that scolding was another way of showing affection. From that moment, even if his way of speaking carries little compassion, the calm Jade who makes accurate judgments has become another teacher that shows Luke what he can do.

Honestly, I could stop and end this section right there with that beautiful summary, but since that wouldn't be fun, I'll build up on that already stable ground we have.

The game does a good job of establishing how sheltered Luke is at the beginning of the game. His interaction with people is limited to people around the manor, and the occasional visitor. Most of these people are on his father's payroll, and thus, have to be nice and polite to Luke lest they face relevant consequences. It is reasonable to extrapolate that he doesn't have much experience with regard to people that are actually "mean" to him, or those who scold or tell him off. At most, those would be limited to Guy, Natalia, Van, and possibly his parents.

From what we can see early on, Luke doesn't take too kindly to being criticized, even if the said criticism is coming from a good place. He's something of a brat about it with Tear, granted, he met her not in the best of circumstances, but a constant with LH!Luke is him being a brat about being corrected, may it be Tear, Jade, or Natalia going about it. Jade makes it all the worse by being insufferable so to speak, with an attitude that would grate at someone who is not best at reading between the lines or used to sarcasm.

That aside, the only person who he is open to hearing criticism from is Master Van, his teacher. As seen in the game and explained in the complete guide, Van, who was the only person who both praised and scolded him, was a refreshing change from Duke Fabre, who wasn't interested in him, Suzanne, who only spoiled him, as well as the aforementioned servants. Luke placed him in high regard because of that uniqueness, and how he felt like he was being acknowledged as his own person.

But Van betrayed that trust with the events at Akzeriuth. At the end of it all, Van only saw him as disposable. Luke's blind devotion towards Van and his intoxication with Van's "I need you" served to work against him, distancing him from his comrades and leading into the destruction of Akzeriuth.

Luke resolves to change after the disaster. But it was not by any means smooth-sailing. The party had lost their trust in him, and trust, when broken, is hard to repair. Try as he might, it was difficult to tell if he was progressing at all with regard to this change he desired, at least until Elder McGovern talked to him in Yulia City after they rescued the citizens of St. Binah.

> _Elder McGovern_ : Luke, don't be discouraged.  
>  _Luke_ : What?  
>  _Elder McGovern_ : Jade rarely scolds people. What he said earlier shows that he's taken a liking to you.  
>  _Jade_ : Field Marshal! Don't put words in my mouth!  
>  _Elder McGovern_ : Old folks don't have the time to bother scolding people we don't like. Jade is no different.

Luke had been more open to self-improvement and criticism since he's resolved to change. But the perspective that McGovern Sr. had offered him was a foreign one, yet was seemingly true all the same. Jade's flustered reaction to it only reinforced that fact, as with all his other experiences on the matter of being scolded. For someone who had thought that being scolded was always bad thing, it was something akin to seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and lent a different air to all the times he felt like he was being put down or looked down on by other people.

With this perspective, Luke learned that he wasn't being scolded because he was hopeless or bad. He was being scolded because people believed he could change, and that the people who did so cared enough to see him improve. While not a completely good thing either, being scolded meant that someone cared for him.

Considering this explanation, this is the first validation Luke has that he's on the "right" path with regard to his self-proclaimed change. As someone who has weathered almost nothing but mental and physical beatdowns since Akzeriuth, this form of acknowledgement is integral to his development. And it came no less from _Jade_ , who _rarely_ scolds people and is easily one of the people in the party he least got along with. Even if Tear does follow up later in a skit with saying that she believes everyone else in the party thinks Luke is doing well, I think the fact that he sort of won over Jade felt like winning some sort of emotional jackpot given the circumstances. Still, the most important part to note here is that Luke learned that under all of Jade's biting remarks, there's a point to them that means no harm, and could be a means for him to continue to improve himself.

~~Or, TL;DR, Luke learns what a big tsundere Jade is.~~

After this, we see Luke paying a lot more attention to what Jade has to say about certain things. As a consequence, intentional or not, Jade takes up a more active role in guiding Luke. Luke is a man on a mission, and earnest as he is, there is so much he doesn't know about the world. He doesn't have enough knowledge to come to certain solutions, or solve certain problems on his own. But Jade is there, and is a veritable fountain of knowledge. Thanks to Jade, he learns more about the world he remained ignorant of, and comes to solutions he wouldn't have otherwise (such as how to undo the damage Van had done on the passage rings). Jade does not dismiss his questions, and is always ready with an answer of some kind, even if it's prefaced with an "I think".

While Luke can get carried away by either his enthusiasm or idealism, Jade is there to ground him. This is especially apparent when they are busy evacuating the citizens of Engeve. On the onset, Jade reminds Luke in a skit about the efforts involved in such an endeavor. As they go about the evacuation and through the battlefield, Jade provides some support, albeit cold at times, for situations Luke is ill-equipped to handle. To make a list of them:

  1. Jade calms Luke down after he gets angry about what happened to Marco, Jade's aide that perished during the Tartarus attack. Jade reminds Luke of their current goal, and how getting emotional here would not help things.
  2. Jade prevents Luke from unintentionally jeopardizing their evacuation mission when the latter is tempted to apologize for destroying Akzeriuth. Jade may have been harsh about it, going as far as to call Luke "the criminal who destroyed Akzeriuth", but he doesn't dismiss Luke's actions as wrong. He simply tells Luke that, even if it's up to him if he wants to apologize, there's a time and place for everything.
  3. At the end of their mission, Jade commends Luke for a job well done. Jade did not have to, yet he still provided Luke with that validation.



The above is a constant throughout the game, and we see various flavors of these interactions, especially the first one. Another common flavor not listed is the "what do we do" + Jade has an answer variety, as mentioned several paragraphs before. However, an important part is what happens after, aka when Luke goes "let's do it". Oftentimes, Jade has an "I think" or an "I wonder" attached to his ideas, without saying they should do it.

And Jade lets him do things, and trusts Luke's gauge of his own abilities. In turn, Luke trusts in Jade's on point guesses, and becomes the enabling force behind each step the party takes. And once everyone pushes through with that course of action, Jade, once again, becomes the person who serves to remind everyone of their purpose, even if the obstacles in their way are unpleasant.

Or in short-- **Luke does, Jade guides**. This is how Jade teaches Luke, and why Luke thinks him worthy to call his "teacher" before the head off to the Absorption Gate, just as he had referred to Van. Many of Luke's goals wouldn't be possible without Jade's guidance, and for that, Luke is ever grateful. Jade may still be the same annoying, sarcastic, and insufferable Colonel that Luke had first met, but at the end of the day, he knows Jade ultimately has his best interests in mind, and that kindness lurks beneath the cool disposition of his teacher of a kind.


	2. Salvation Through Action

#### Salvation Through Action  
(or, How Luke Freed Jade from the Shackles of His Past)

Again, let's preface this with some translated text from the complete guide.

> **Way of Atonement**
> 
> Once, Jade aimed to resurrect the dead through fomicry, but has long since abandoned the technology. For him, Luke is an unpleasant reminder of the past not only because he's a replica, but also because the way he did not admit his responsibility for Akzeriuth also reminded him of how he did not acknowledge Nebilim's death. But Luke is different from Jade. Instead of finding an alternative way to do things (I think they're talking about the hows and whys of Jade pursuing fomicry research to this degree) without admitting his fault, Luke atoned for his sin. In watching the changed Luke, Jade learned that each replica is truly an individual on his own, and as such, he decides to resume fomicry research. Make it such that replicas aren't just a replacement for the original. That was what he thought as atonement for the sins borne out of his forbidden arte.

In terms of character arcs, Jade's in _Tales of the Abyss_ is essentially him learning how to deal with his past and the sins he had committed.

With regard to what "sins" these are, canon has been ambiguous, though a few candidates have been thrown around. One is developing fomicry, an immoral science Jade sought to use to revive the dead. In this case, Professor Nebilim, just so he could beg for her forgiveness. Another possibility is the root cause of everything, which was Jade not comprehending the significance of life and death, which led him into doing things such as creating fomicry.

By banning fomicry, he thought he had put a stop to the madness that had consumed him since Professor Nebilim died. While plagued with the unpleasant knowledge of knowing he failed and he had done horrible things in the line of indulging his selfish wish, he could deal with it, especially when it, perhaps, might have been the least he could do in the way of atonement. That, and it's easier to live with it when the reminders of such have been long out of sight.

At least, until Luke fon Fabre entered his life.

Or rather, his replica did. As early as the Tartarus, he already suspected what Luke truly is, not at all helped by mounting evidence they run into as he travels with the party. But he refrained from saying anything on the matter, knowing that claiming Luke is a replica would entail explanations he doesn't really wish to give. It would mean having to open up the can of worms that is his past, and it's not something he's too eager to do.

Thus, he never raised his suspicions about Luke being a replica, and everyone paid an unthinkable price for it. While Jade was not the one who blew up Akzeriuth, there was much Jade could have done to prevent the tragedy. And he knows it full well. If he spoke up instead of dismissing it as too troublesome, there was a possibility for them to have averted things. It would have put the weight of explaining on him, of bringing up his shameful past in some form or another, but that should be next to nothing to the burden Luke had to shoulder--that of killing thousands thanks to his blind devotion.

But what's done is done. After falling into the Qliphoth, they had to focus on a way to go back to the surface and reveal the truth of the incident. Then Luke just denies his responsibility in the incident, and Jade can't help but be reminded of _back then_ , when he killed the Professor and simply turned away from the fact he did, denying that sin and turning to an equally grave, if not graver sin in order to "correct" it.

Jade, in some way, _snaps_ and extracts himself out of the situation, preferring to deal with matters that are more within his control. Perhaps, he also wanted to distance himself from this reminder of his past, now dual in nature. One, of a product of fomicry, and secondly, a representation of his childish, more ignorant self.

In addition to guilt and regret, I believe that Jade's past and discussions thereof cause him to feel shame as well. A part of him wants to forget about it, but knows it would be an insult to all those he had killed one way or another (including and especially Nebilim), so he has resigned himself to living with that burden of sin. I think it's the reason why he doesn't like discussing it, unless his hand is pushed in a similar way Nephry does. Being reminded that he once involved himself in such matters is something of a sore point for him, and the complicated feelings he has with regard the matter is mostly unpleasant and are things he doesn't want to deal with.

Which is why Luke being sympathetic to his plight must have come as something of a surprise. Not many know of his secret, and those close to him have never really said anything like that to him before. Saphir was obsessive and eventually ran off to do what he thought was right for Jade, Peony was the one to admonish Jade, and Nephry has trust issues. I think Luke may have been the first to express something like that--a sincere opinion that believed Jade's course of action was understandable. The irony of it coming from a product of his own sin must not have been lost on Jade either, as with the fact that Luke had every right to rebuke him for what he has done. On top of that, while Jade was not as savage as Anise when they reunited with Luke, he was not, by any means, nice to Luke. It was clear he only tolerated Luke since he needed Guy's help and the additional manpower did not hurt.

But Luke didn't accuse him or spit curses at him or call him a hypocrite. Instead, he said that he would have done something similar, had he been in Jade's shoes. That level of understanding, perhaps, could only ever come from someone who has committed a similarly huge blunder, realized it, and wished to correct it.

This, I think, marks the start of Jade's salvation, of him reconsidering certain viewpoints he's held ever since. Luke had not regained Jade's trust yet, but another connection was made that day. By circumstance, Luke has turned into another person he could talk about his past to. They aren't confidants per se at this point, but they are united by their mistakes and, despite the fact that Jade probably won't admit it readily, their desire to atone for it.

And then Luke makes good on his promise to change, impressing Jade with the lengths he would go to in order to atone. This in turn inspires Jade, who realizes several things in the course of watching Luke. One, that simply living with his sin isn't enough as atonement. Secondly, not everything wrought about by fomicry is bad--Luke being a prime example of such. And thirdly, there's more to replicas than being simply replacements. Each is their own person, an individual worthy of being called "human". These realizations lead him into deciding to resume fomicry research. Not to make another replica, but to see what he can do for those still living amongst them.

This is the path that Luke showed him, and led him towards reconciling his past. There will never be any forgiveness for the atrocities he had committed, but there was much he could do moving forward. Just like Luke, who, even at his lowest, sought to keep saving those around him. Likewise, Luke will never be able to return the lives he inadvertently took by destroying Akzeriuth, but there was something he could do with the life he was given, so he did what he can.

"You can't go forward if you keep looking back." Jade may not have heard Luke say this, but both of them embody this when all is said and done. By doing, Luke showed Jade the way to a brighter future--not only for himself, but his brethren, the other replicas that Dist created, and continue to live.

Jade will never be truly free of his past. It is part of him as much as his trademark snark is, as with his timely words of wisdom. But thanks to Luke and his own resolve, he no longer has to be weighed down by it. Instead, he could focus on doing what he can as the world's leading expert on the subject of fomicry--build a better future for everyone on Auldrant, replica and original alike.


	3. Applying the Results: Tales of the Rays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unmarked spoilers for _Tales of the Rays_ follows.

Despite being a crossover mobile game, I brought _Tales of the Rays_ into the discussion because of several reasons. One, the characters brought into the game's universe have all their memories and experiences from their respective titles intact. It is heavily implied by the dialogue that the Abyss cast is from after the events at the Tower of Rem at the earliest, possibly even pre-Eldrant in terms of the timeline they were pulled from. Or at the very least, Jade and Luke are, given their behavior.

Two, the writer of the story is none other than Takumi Miyajima, the same person in charge of the _Tales of the Abyss_ main scenario, as well as the short stories seen in the _Character Episode Bible_ , and the scenario for _Tsuioku no Jade_.

Lastly, the characterization for this game is beautifully on point, and feels like reading about the characters we came to love (or hate) in the course of their respective stories. It's high caliber fanservice that also explicitly states a lot of things heavily implied in the game.

The game, post-Rem does a good job of showing Luke's will to live. It is reinforced in _Tales of the Rays_ as well, where Luke's fonon separation is no longer a problem. And given the nature of himself and everyone else as copies that can't go back to their original worlds, he makes do with the situation, and helps where he can as usual.

Jade's resolve after being inspired by Luke is also more apparent in _Tales of the Rays_. Once a person who would simply let things happen to avoid the complications brought about by explaining things, he now takes a more active role in lending his expertise and investigating matters and mysteries around them.

He has, in fact, gone as much to say that if there's something he could do about the situation, he would do so instead of standing idly by. This is, no doubt, something that Luke had inspired in him.

On top of all this, we are treated to more instances in which Luke and Jade show a level of trust and candidness around each other when left alone. Even when transported to another world, Jade maintains the secret he agreed to keep, which was Luke's fonon separation being a thing. He is every bit concerned about Luke's well-being, not at all minding monitoring his condition even when all signs point to his fonon separation having completely stopped. Amidst their usual snark and banter, Luke trusts Jade's feedback on important matters, and ability to keep a secret.

Jade is more open about his past around Luke, telling him things that must have been difficult to admit. We've seen his brand of candidness around situations such as his pre-Absorption Gate talk with Luke, but it continues and gets more personal. This is exemplified in his second skit, where he elaborates on what kind of Nebilim he and Dist wished to revive. Luke already knew what Jade ultimately wanted out of fomicry thanks to their talk way back in Keterburg Hotel, but their talk in the said skit further drives home that point.

In addition to that, it's rather cute when Luke tries to be protective of Jade's secrets, don't you think?

In all seriousness though, this is yet another example of Luke going the extra mile when it comes to Jade's past. He knows how touchy a subject it is for Jade, and can relate to the feeling very well.

Speaking of trust, there is also Luke's confidence with regard to Jade's ability to take a beating in the _Valkyrie Anatomia_ collaboration event.

**Luke:** _Alright! Everyone! Don’t hold back just because it’s Jade’s body! Better yet, let’s take this opportunity to settle some old scores!_

...If a bit played for amusement more than anything else. To give a quick overview of what goes down in this event--or at least the portion relevant to this essay--Jade ends up getting possessed by Lezard (from _Valkyrie Profile_ ), and Luke and company have to defeat the latter in hopes of getting the "regular" Jade back. They succeed, and Jade manages enough willpower to take his body back.

Later on, when Raine and Jade do a post-mortem of body possession shenanigans, these lines come up:

To plagiarize myself from some meta I did forever ago regarding the _Anatomia_ event:

For the last line, there’s a small nuance that turns out either clunky in English or cannot be carried at all into the said language. The original line is 「……ええ。人は変われるということを私は教え **てもらいました** から。」, The “-te moraimasu” form carries with it the connotation of gratefulness, of having received a favor. As enforced in the previous sections, in the TOA official guide and various side material, it is often highlighted how Luke’s change had taught Jade certain things, and how it showed him the way with regard to certain decisions (such as the decision to resume his fomicry research at the end of the game as a form of atonement for his sins). This is reflected in _Tales of the Rays_ as well.

These two will bicker to hell and back, but at the end of the day, they truly trust each other and have a bond as unbreakable as most _Tales_ friendships out there.

**Author's Note:**

> Sources:
> 
>   * 3DS Tales of the Abyss Official Complete Guide p.565-566
>   * [Tales of the Rays Jade 2nd Skit - The Footfalls of Sin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S649J87SD0M)
>   * [Raine and Jade discuss being possessed by their seiyuu counterparts in Valkyrie Profile… and more.](http://dimensionslip.tumblr.com/post/174031098066/raine-and-jade-discuss-being-possessed-by-their)
>   * [Valkryie Anatomia Collaboration Random Translations](http://dimensionslip.tumblr.com/post/173896653124/jade-possessed-by-lezard-my-dear-goddess)
> 



End file.
